So if Kevin Ollie left town this summer, walking out after 18 months of brilliant coaching and genuine love for his college, I was fully prepared to write that above sentence.

Turns out it still applies today, on this mid-May afternoon when the steady breeze could have very well been the state of Connecticut's collective exhale.

It was reported by Yahoo! Sports Monday that Kevin Ollie and UConn had agreed on a new five-year, $15 million deal. Later, Hearst Connecticut refuted the report, citing a source that said the contract wouldn't be completed Monday night. Nonetheless, it appears Ollie will stay put.

Turns out above sentence still applies today because Ollie took the best job available: UConn.

As this whole process played out, a source close to Ollie categorized him as "a different kind of guy." A guy who marches to his own beat. A guy who won't just jump at big NBA money. A guy who cares deeply about his assistants receiving their financial due.

The same source also made a great point: When Ollie arrived at UConn, choosing the Huskies over Oklahoma City, he knew absolutely nothing about the recruiting world, had very few connections and wasn't plugged-in to the college game. He had spent his entire adult life in the NBA.

Kevin Ollie is UConn, yes, but Kevin Ollie is also the NBA.

And that's why he should know better than anyone: Pick the wrong NBA job and you'll soon be out of said NBA job.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were aggressively in pursuit of Ollie, per several reports. Remember: Ollie played for the Cavs in 2003-04, LeBron James' rookie year and the team's first season under head coach Paul Silas, who didn't last long. Silas was canned two-thirds of the way through 2004-05, when his Cavs had a respectable 34-30 record. Remember: They didn't have anything close to a respectable roster. They had a 19-year-old star and a starting lineup that included Ira Newble and Jeff McInnis.

Since Silas, the Cavs have fired Mike Brown, Byron Scott and Mike Brown again. They've drafted Kyrie Irving, who they could lose to free agency, and somehow still assembled a team terrible enough to finish below the Hawks in the Eastern Conference.

Seems like a stable situation.

Then there's the Lakers, a job as perilous as it is glamorous. Mike Brown (hey, there he is again) was fired five games into the 2012-13 season. Mike D'Antoni, brought in as his replacement, resigned last month. Kobe Bryant is recovering from an Achilles tear and a left knee fracture. The Lakers will soon have a ton of cap space, but there's no telling who they'll bring in or how quickly management will grow dissatisfied with the new coach.

The NBA is becoming increasingly unreasonable: In a truly laughable front-office decision, Mark Jackson was shown the door by Golden State a few weeks ago. On Monday, the Grizzlies fired CEO Jason Levien and assistant GM Stu Lash. This is the same franchise that canned Lionel Hollins last offseason after it A.) Traded Rudy Gay to Toronto for nothing and B.) Made the deepest playoff run in team history.

Ollie's professional career provides all the evidence. Don Nelson, his first coach, resigned from two jobs and was fired from two others in his Hall of Fame career. When he had Dirk Nowitzki, he won. When he had a second-year Latrell Sprewell and little else, he didn't.

There are no Cinderella stories in the NBA. Great coaches can lift great talent to the next level. Mediocre coaches can hold great talent back. But great coaches can only do so much when they're given a mediocre roster. We've seen it repeatedly.

One of Ollie's Hall of Fame coaches, Larry Brown, was fired in 2005-06 by Knicks GM Isiah Thomas, who briefly coached Ollie in 2002. Thomas' mismanagement of the New York roster dealt Brown a near-impossible task, one that Thomas unsuccessfully assumed when he became Brown's successor. He was eventually fired, too.

We'll see what becomes of Kevin Ollie's last NBA coach, Oklahoma City's Scott Brooks. He's had Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook for six seasons and, as of now, has just one NBA Finals appearance to show for it.

If Brooks were fired, Ollie would almost certainly be the organization's top choice. Then he'd have a real choice to make. Because then he'd have an offer from an NBA team with two superstars in their primes, a solid supporting cast and a GM who has his back. It won't get much better than that.

But, for now, it looks like UConn fans need not worry.

As for later? Like next year? Or 2016 or '17?

Who knows?

Although we're rightfully wrapped up in college hoops here in Connecticut, we can't deny that the NBA is the pinnacle. You'd imagine -- and this is pure speculation on my part -- that coaching in the NBA, coaching someone like Kevin Durant, will always have some appeal, particularly to the league's former players. That must be why Ollie has said, "Not now, but never say never."

No one knows the thrill of the NBA like a guy who played with Durant, LeBron James and Allen Iverson. No one knows the risks like a guy who saw two of his Hall of Fame coaches get axed.

Kevin Ollie knew enough to stay away from the current openings, none of them better than what he's got going right now.